A gunman who hid aboard a Cessna Grand Caravan operated by the evangelical aid group Samaritan’s Purse was taken into custody Tuesday after attempting to hijack the aircraft. The suspect forced the pilot to circle for hours and demanded a flight to Chad. Authorities said the aircraft departed Juba in the morning carrying medical supplies to Maiwut in South Sudan’s northeast when the suspect took control.
No injuries were reported from the hijacking incident, and an investigation is underway. Along with the suspect, one pilot and one Samaritan’s Purse staff member were onboard the aircraft.
“We praise God that no one was seriously injured, and we are grateful to the security forces for their support and swift action on the ground to resolve the situation and bring a safe outcome,” a Samaritan’s Purse representative told a North Carolina news station near the organization’s headquarters.
Police identified the hijacking suspect as Yasir Mohammed Yusuf, a resident of the disputed Abyei Administrative Area. Officers said Yusuf had slipped onto the aircraft before takeoff and concealed himself in the rear cabin. His motives, along with his reasons for wanting to reach Chad—a Central African nation that does not border South Sudan—remained unclear.
Santino Udol Mayen, a spokesman for the Western Bahr el Ghazal state police, told the AP the pilot eventually informed the hijacking suspect that the plane needed fuel and diverted to the northern town of Wau, where officers arrested Yusuf.
Mayen told the AP the man wore a reflective vest marked with the logo of a charter operator based at Juba International Airport, though managing director Paul Antrobus said the company had no employee by that name.
The incident occurred a week after a plane chartered by the organization and operated by Nari Air crashed in Unity State, a state in the northern part of South Sudan, killing all three crewmembers on board.
So, how does the fatal plane crash briefly discussed in the last paragraph bear resemblance to the hijacked aircraft??? There was no connection that I could see, nor any pithy learning from the fatal crash.
Emphasizes the variety of risks encountered by scheming Western cult members while blatantly exploiting regional suffering by proselytizing (under the guise of relief) natives who already have their own set of fictional spiritual deities.